Browse Forums Building A New House Re: Porter Davis homes 106Mar 24, 2007 3:16 pm Hi Windsor.
What a shame you are allegedly having such dire communication issues with your builder. It must be some small consolation , according to the company, allegedly you are in a very small minority : Re: Porter Davis homes 107Mar 24, 2007 7:28 pm Windsor - might be worth finding out who the other builder are that are building a few homes in your development, and checking out what they have to offer.
Perhaps it will be an easier road to take. Best of luck with the project! Perry Re: Porter Davis homes 108Mar 24, 2007 7:42 pm Agreed with perryr.
If PD have already built in your estate through other people then they (or at least someone in that office) will know what the design guidelines are and how to accommodate them. If this is the case, then your situation might simply be a case of the wrong people handling your job. And I'm a testament to that. We've kicked up a fuss with our supposed 'regional manager' but still to this day have no answer/followup from him. Don't even get me started on on my CSR. As for the developers try to (if you already haven't) get as far up the chain as possible when trying to get answers. This would also apply to the builders. Managers have managers,too! When we were purchasing our block the sales person we were dealing with was hopeless. When I wasn't getting the right answers from her I was on the phone straight away to her manager and the managers of the development. In regards to your switching builders, well, that's entirely your decision. But don't let them push you arothe und. LIke I always say, it's going to be your house so you should be calling shots. It's actually amazing what can happen when you start talking to the right people. Good luck and keep us posted. [sneakersss] Re: Porter Davis homes 109Mar 24, 2007 10:56 pm I called the developer two days ago and their customer relations told me to get another sales consultant. According to the developer, PD has built a few houses in that estate since it was launched. Those houses have since been completed, proof that PD has gone through the whole design, submission and on till the completion of the project. I am now considering taking the developer's advice. How do I go about requesting a new sales consultant?
It would seem that I am indeed in an isolated situation. My mates told me that PD would normally be quite responsive to the client's demands. Looks like I picked the short straw this time round. *sigh* What about the other builders? Any suggestions for a backup plan? I won't be home for Christmas anyway. Re: Porter Davis homes 110Mar 25, 2007 3:50 pm Ok, I'm still slightly confused about your situation. You have said that you have paid the $600 deposit and that soil tests have been ordered and performed. At this point in time (after you've had your walk-through with your chosen PD house) that you would've already been appointed a Customer Service Representative/Consultant who should be handling your job. You wouldn't, therefore, need to deal with the Sales Consultants anymore.
Either way, I would speak to the regional manager of the office you are dealing with. Demand for some other person to handle your job. They shouldn't have a problem with that as you haven't gone too far in the process. When we asked to switch CSRs apparently we were too far into the process to do so. [sneakersss] Re: Porter Davis homes 111Mar 25, 2007 6:53 pm YSSIM,
You are right about the CSR. The sales consultant thanked my after the sales quotation was signed and told me that a CSR will get in touch with me within a week. As I mentioned earlier, I waited a week for the CSR to call me but didn't get the call. So I called up the Sales Consultant to enquire. That's when they told me that there are some hiccups in the design approval process and PD wanted to get a written confirmation from the developer's design committee before they proceed. That was fair enough. So I called the developer to ask about the design and although they verbally confirmed (to me) that it was okay, they still have to get the detailed design submission (drawings, etc) from PD, have a look at it before confirming anything in writing. At that point, the PD sales consultant told me that it was a lot of work to do to prepare the detailed design drawings prior to tender. (could be a sign that they wanted a downpayment at this stage, although there was no mention of it) PD also mentioned that their design manager thought that the developer's design committee were being too inflexible. That incident happened in the last week. So, I am still trying to get in touch with someone over there to see if my quotation is still active, and if so, how are they going to proceed with it. Re: Porter Davis homes 112Mar 26, 2007 5:13 pm Sounds to me like you may be caught in the middle here. The Developer wants design drawings, but PD are reluctant to provide them - due to the cost. If PD produce the drawings, and they haven't locked you in, then they are out of pocket.
At the Tender appointment is when they get the next payment, and this covers them for the design drawings. Depending on how serious you are about the house and land, perhaps there's a way you can talk to PD and suggest that you share the risk with producing whatever the developer wants? In other words, you put in some of the money, which is then put towards your next payment. Not ideal, I realise that, but it may get you moving. As you said previously, PD have built in that estate before, so a simple question would be "How was it done last time?" If that fails, then the other thing I'd be trying to do is to perhaps get into a room with the Developer and PD, and try and nut out a solution. People behave quite differently when you can see them in person. Best of luck. Let us know how you go. Perry Re: Porter Davis homes 113Mar 26, 2007 10:56 pm The next option would be to pay PD for the designs and get it submitted like perryr said. But how would that guarantee anything for me. PD could disagree on any of the changes the developer wants and I would end up back where I started. If I go down that path I would definitely want PD to commit on certain things. Even then, it would leave them with a lot of room to say no to me and get more money out of it.
I would love to get the developer and PD into a room together. I don't know how I am going to arrange that. I can't even get hold of anyone in PD with authority to talk to me. The area sales manager sent me a message saying that he will call me back and that was it. I tried call their head office in Hallam but my call got blocked at the reception cos they said that the sales manager has to refer me there to his superior officer. I am really getting nowhere here. Like I said, any suggestions on other builders that could possibly do the job? I'm looking at Me-tr-coN and maybe simonds or henley. Don't really have a thread on this forum for the first two eh? pM me if anyone got any suggestions My First Home 114Mar 30, 2007 2:43 pm Hello All,
Firstly thank you all for sharing all these information; it is certainly great for the starters like me. I had a look at few options from different builders, but I think so far I have liked the PDs Stanford 23 design, my biggest problem is I have a very wide frontage in the house 27 meters and with my budget; Stanford is the largest one I can build. I have been only in touch with Jason from Lyndhurst office and have my first face-to-face appointment to see him this Saturday (31-03), do anyone dealt with him previously, and is he trusts worthy? I am sales person myself, and I cannot trust all the sales people, HAHA I will certainly keep looking at this discussion room, as it will help me a lot in the future. Cheers, Houman Re: Porter Davis homes 115Mar 30, 2007 10:08 pm Houman,
I don't think that anyone here should be saying anything which could be considered defamatory. I will say that in my recent experience I've dealt with two Sales Reps from PD, and both have proven to be reliable and very up front with everything I've asked of them. In the end, it comes down to whether you feel comfortable dealing with the Sales Rep you've met. If you do, then you should expect and get good service. Sometimes, however , there can be a personality clash - and if there is, find another sales rep with whom you are happy to work with. Remember - it's your money! Cheers Perry Re: Porter Davis homes 117Mar 31, 2007 11:49 am How exciting epiphany! Where abouts did you build? Must be such a good feeling for it to almost be finally over. =)
Emi epiphany Well said, Perry On another note...we get our certificate of occupancy in less than a week. Yay! Re: Porter Davis homes 118Mar 31, 2007 12:23 pm We're building in the South East of Melbourne, overlooking a lake.
We are soooooo looking forward to moving in. And, overall, we've been very pleased with PD. The house is looking fabulous Re: Porter Davis homes 119Apr 02, 2007 8:59 am Here we go; I was surprised how confident the two sales guys were on display house.
They promised they would start in October and finish by next Feb, a little longer waiting time before they start, but at this stage, it is as I am not in such a hurry to move into the new house. So I ended up signining the first quotation and put the downpayment. So from now on, I guess I keep a closer eye on this forum. Three options 1 Ask the liquidator 2 Find another PD customer and ask the source of their report 3 Pay for new report 3 12345 Ask for references and speak to them. If they are defensive or try to avoid the request, walk. 1 74716 I would never build with Fowler homes. I built with them in 2021 and till date maintenance issues are pending. All their existing trades and businesses don't work with… 14 105591 |